Whoever thought I would swell with pride when watching a kid grab a rattle? But my son has been working on his hand-eye coordination now, at 4 whole months, and the way his face lights up when he manages to actually touch what he wants is beyond amazing. I love that kid.

In other news, it's Tour de Fleece time again. I've been spinning my butt off, trying new things, like spinning with sparkles.

I used to have my main bank account with Citibank out of convenience, as well as a credit card. Why? Citibank was the only bank on the edge of the UofC campus, so I could get there easily. When I moved away from the midwest and citibanks were harder to find, I switched most things to another bank. However, I kept a credit card there, which I rarely use, and eventually stashed away as an emergency card.

I have need of the card (though not for an emergency). I went to look for it and can't find it. I'm sure I have a photocopy of it somewhere, but that too has hidden itself.

I called the lost card line. Guess what? You need your credit card number to access any part of that phone line. They routed me to new card services.

New card services gave me a new number. A new number which either tried to route me to the original number... or to new card services.

Next, they gave me a number that sent me to bank acct info. Which didn't help, since it was a credit card.

Finally, I went back to the original lost card line, got routed back to new card services, and was told I could only get help at a local Citibank.

I almost had a tragedy today. I was sitting on the couch and nursing the little one after a morning of sewing (and finishing a new purse/diaper bag small enough for quick trips out instead of a giant bag, go me) only to smell something. Something terrible. Something that smelled like burning electronics. Something that gave me a waking nightmare of the day my dear Husqvarna started smoking.

I dashed into the dining room/sewing room - there was no smoke, thank the Lord, but the smell was overwhelming. I'd forgotten to unplug the machine for the first time since the fateful capacitor overload... and there was a dog sitting on the pedal.

Yes, my stupid dog was sewing. As there was no fabric to sew, the machine was going at full speed and sewing air. The thread had gotten all tangled around the bobbin and brought the machine to the verge of overheating. I managed to get there in time to save my poor, overworked, antique machine. It still works, it's still fine, and I'm officially done being an idiot. Yay!

Two projects down, 8 to go on my self-imposed yarn diet. 1.8 more oz of fiber left to spin of my angora/merino mix. I can do it.

It's amazing how busy life gets with a small child. For example, this is the first day in oh... 10 weeks that I've had the time to make my hair look nice. I hadn't realized how LONG it had gotten until I left it out of a ponytail today.

All the busy time with the baby means less time for the things that make me sane. I've yet to finish a single skein of yarn from the fibers I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool (though I've gotten halfway finished with one). I've finished small projects, but I haven't finished writing up patterns for things that should have patterns, like the incredibly simple and cute neckwarmer that's just waiting to have a picture taken. No, everything revolves around my baby boy.

That's not a bad thing. It's just a HUGE change. As a consequence, I have oodles of lovely yarn hanging around that hasn't been knit, far more than I normally allow in my stash. As such... an official yarn buying hiatus. Until I finish 8 more projects, no yarn. And until I finish spinning at least 5 hanks of fiber, no more fiber buying. I have plenty on my plate!

What a fantastic weekend, despite almost melting from the heat. The 5.5 hour drive up took more than 7 thanks to stopping to nurse every 2 hours and then ending up in festival traffic, but it was all totally worth it. MDSW is a county fairground packed with vendors, exhibits, sheepdog trials, and all sorts of fiber-bearing animals. I drooled over alpaca, convinced myself not to buy an angora rabbit, and shopped like a madwoman. We also went to an afterparty and met a whole slew of knitting podcasters.

I've finally got myself a tensioned lazy kate which really DOES make plying sooo much easier, and I managed to find a copy of Barbara Walker's 2nd treasury of stitch patterns, which I've been trying to track down in person for ages. Plus, I've got fiber. Lots of fiber. I decided to try to find fibers I haven't spun before, and did a fairly good job of it - I have falkland sheep, angora, and cormo to try out. I also got seduced by the softness of alpaca dyed in fall colors (drool) and splurged for 8 whole oz. of shiny, soft, smooth, pumpkin-colored Blue Faced Leicester mixed with silk. I also got YAK. I get to spin YAK! It's so exciting, to me at least.

The little man did an amazing job, although he spent most of the time fussing while in his stroller and wanting to be held. I couldn't keep him in the front carrier for too long thanks to how hot he gets in it, so my arms were killing me.

All in all a very successful trip. Now to spin until my fingers fall off.

So, I've decided to cast on for a new project. It's a light short sleeved sweater made of big yarn on big needles, which I'm intending to use to cover the 8 kajillion nursing tanks I'll spend the sweltering Durham summers in.

I'm going to race the baby. I'm due in two weeks. Which will be done first, baby or sweater?

(Hey, I've got to have SOME way to keep myself from going stark raving mad in the next couple of weeks, right?)

Since these things can go on for weeks before the baby actually arrives, this doesn't mean he'll be here any time soon.

Today, however, I had a quite painful contraction while waiting in line to check out at Target. The clerk was a young man, probably late teens or early 20's. As I paused in the middle of swiping my credit card to hiss and lean on the counter, his eyes got reaaaaally big. He asked if I was ok - oh, I'm fine, just a contraction, no big deal - and suddenly, he could not ring me up fast enough! He even offered to call an ambulance. It was pretty amusing.

I so didn't mean for this to become a place to complain about baby-related stuff, but since that's what 100% of my life is right now, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

The nesting mom in me is furious today. We ordered furniture for the baby back on January 18, and were informed that the dresser would arrive in 4-6 weeks, the glider in a similar amount of time, and the crib would likely not be here until about the baby's due date, which was fine, since we're planning on having him in our room for the first few weeks anyway.

4 weeks have come and gone. So have 6. And I've now been informed that we will not have ANY furniture until after the baby is born.

I'm going into a meltdown panic mode. I'm not sure if we can cancel the order at this point. We could just drive down to IKEA and get some basic stuff tomorrow, if we could do that (which is what hubby wanted in the first place, sigh) but I just don't know what to DO!

Guess it's time to do what always makes it a little better... and call mom.

I always sort of thought that the so-called "nesting urge" that moms-to-be experience was mostly made up by women who were trying to explain away the sudden need to get some stuff done before the baby arrives. I mean, of course people are going to want to get stuff cleaned up so that there's not a ton to do when there's a small squalling person to look after. I'm not the tidiest of people, but I understand and accept that my house will be a nightmare for the first few months of baby living.

The nesting urge, though? So not a crock. Here's what I've done over just the past couple of weeks:

-23 loads of laundry, including every towel I can get my hands on and all of the newborn sized baby outfits-reorganized my yarn and fiber stash for the 2nd time-made a bulletin board and mail hanger for organizing all sorts of stuff-baked and frozen several loaves of bread for thawing in the next month-started actually cooking. I hate cooking. I love baking, but I hate cooking. All the sudden, I want to make food?-rearranged the dining room furniture so as to hide the overly large dog crate-put pictures up on the walls. We lived in this house for 2 years with no artwork. Suddenly, every room needs something on the wall-barely resisting the urge to sand and repaint the kitchen cabinets. I'd be an idiot to start this now, but I DESPERATELY want to.

All of this is wildly out of my normal routine. I just keep thinking up new projects and have to talk myself out of starting them - after all, I've got 3 more weeks until he's due. I can't possibly finish EVERYTHING by then.

Now that the birthday in question is past, I can finally post a picture of the purse I made for my sister!

The outside is machine quilted by yours truly and, though I didn't take a picture of the inside, it's a deep brown fabric with little swirlies on it. The teal outer is topstitched and quilted with brown thread that matches the interior fabric. Best of all, I did it with no pattern! I'm super proud of my first patternless sewing (even if I DID base the basic shape off of a bag I saw at the store).

And then there's something I'm almost as proud of...

My fair isle gloves! The pattern, which can be found on Ravelry, is the Ruba'iyat mitten by Heather Desserud. It's a fabulous Scandanavian-style mitten construction using an Arab-style geometric pattern on the backs. I knit them in possum yarn and they are absolutely the warmest things ever. I'm in love. I think there will be a matching hat.

In other news... t-5 weeks until the little man's due date. Must finish his sweater, and fast.

2: Maternity belt. Oh my goodness, where have you been the past 3 months? My back pain - GONE. It looks ridiculous on but it is WORTH IT.

3: The first Cadbury creme egg of the season. I love ripping the foil off bit by bit because a bit of the creme has leaked out and stuck the wrapping to the chocolate. The extra effort makes that first bite even sweeter.

4: My snuggly dogs. They may bark a ridiculous amount, but they're just trying to keep me safe from that weird looking car across the street.

Thing 1: My cat. I have a stupid cat. Not just your average stupid cat. A truly stupid cat who may end up killing himself through his own stupidity. Over the past 12 hours, he has repeatedly chewed through hubby's iPhone cord, incurring the Wrath of Husband, and just now pulled a lamp down off of a table and onto his head. He's just asking for it. Stupid cat.

Thing 2: Indian food. Oh do I love Indian food. I mourn because the inexpensive Indian buffet with the all-you-can-drink masala chai just closed, and I didn't know about it. But I can't eat it anyway, because I'm 8 months pregnant, and it gives me the worst indigestion I've ever had in my life. I miss Indian food. I miss it so, so much. And sometimes I eat it anyway, and deal with the night of anguished Tums consumption just because I can't help myself. Just a little bit longer and you're evicted, baby, do you hear me? Because I wish to eat mounds of Indian food and NOT regret it.

Thing 3: Fair isle mittens. I love the pattern I've picked. (For those on Ravelry, Ruba'iyat Mittens.) I love the yarn, a gorgeous wool, NZ possum, and silk blend, which my mother in law brought me back from their trip there. I finished the first mitten on Tuesday night, and it fits perfectly. And now... now I have another mitten to knit. An identical mitten to knit. And as much as I want to have these perfect, beautiful, softer and warmer than I'd believed mittens on my hands, I also am having trouble making myself start the second mitten.

Thing 4: Designing patterns. I've got two already-tested patterns ready to go up for sale on Ravelry, and I'm having trouble making myself put them up. You see, these are my first paid patterns. I'm terrified that nobody will want to buy them. I spent hours and hours perfecting each of them, and there are some things about each that I still don't adore (even though one of my friends has made 6+ hats from my pattern, so I'm guessing she likes it...) but I'm too blasted nervous and embarrassed to just bite the bullet and figure out the system and upload the patterns. I could have duds. I could have a couple of winners that at least someone will spend a couple of dollars to purchase. Right? And with me out of work and Little Man due to make his appearance very, very soon, a couple of dollars would be very, very nice.